Environmental PhotoVoice project underway

by jmaloni

•Taken from the June 20 Island Dispatch

Fri, Jun 27th 2014 11:55 pm

by
Larry Austin

An Island group is seeking to explore
environmental issues on the Island through the medium of photography.

The Grand Island PhotoVoice project began
Wednesday night at St. Timothy Lutheran Church with an introductory meeting
attended by more than a dozen people. The GI version of the PhotoVoice tool is
meant to express viewpoints of community members regarding their health and
environment in the wake of the 2013 conviction of Tonawanda Coke for polluting
and violating the federal Clean Air Act.

Kim Yaeger, a facilitator and member of
the St. Timothy congregation, will collect photo submissions from the community
that address how the outdoor environment improves, threatens or harms health
and quality life. She will use the still images and captions to create a
PhotoVoice, much like a documentary film, that is hoped to spur dialogue and
raise awareness of environmental health-related issues.

Leadership of the GI Environmental
Initiative conducting the collaboration includes Yaeger, a student at SUNY
Stony Brook, studying music and environmental science; Dr. Jessica Caster from
the University at Buffalo School of Nursing, Pastor Dean Hunneshagen of St.
Timothy, and Town Supervisor Mary Cooke.

Castner emphasized that this project is a
community one and open to any community groups.

PhotoVoice (photovoice.org) has been used
locally by the Clean Air Coalition as an agent of change.

"The photo speaks so loudly, worth 1,000
words. That's why I think this project has potential. Most people today are
very visually oriented, more than ever, so the visual image to the cause and to
the concern is a powerful tool," said Hunneshagen.

One hundred different photographers will
capture the same scene 100 different ways, noted photographer Joe Piniewski,
who attended the meeting.

PhotoVoice workshops are scheduled for
Tuesday, July 1, from 7 to 8:45 p.m. at Grand Island Memorial Library; Tuesday,
July 15, from 7 to 8:45 p.m. at the library; and Wednesday, Aug. 6, from 7 to 9
at the Grand Island Town Hall lower level conference room.

Yaeger can be contacted via email at [email protected], or by voicemail at 716-773-4400.